Slash and Burn

 

It didn’t. Go right, I mean. I almost chickened out. While slipping into my too-big clothes, I realized that my face was still visible. I tried to comfort myself by thinking that no one would see me. I’d attract more attention if I wore a mask.

The backpack was uncomfortably heavy. I rolled my shoulders back as I strode in the direction of the house from three bus stops away. The sun was just lowering at six thirty. I had plenty of time. I found a vacant-looking building just a block away from my target and left the bleach and around back.

I gasped nervously as I neared my target. The red door was just beyond my hand. I knocked.

“Hold on.” A few minutes later, a middle-aged man appeared at the door. “How can I help you?”

“Dan said I could find Red here.”

He smiled. “He was right. Here I am. Come on in.”

I smiled in return and calmed instantly. The living room was filled with a terrible smell and long tables covered in bottles, packages, tubs and pans filled with different substances. I made sure to look him in the eyes. “What’ve you got?” My stomach lurched, and I barely held my composure.

He gripped my shoulder awkwardly. “That depends on what you’ve got for me.” He winked.

I decked him across the face, pulling the knife out with my other hand, and found myself against a wall. S**t. I stabbed him in the leg, wrenched it back out, and ducked out of his grasp while he jumped back in pain. I struck again, in his eye. My aim was almost perfect this time, because my adrenaline had kicked in. I finished by slitting his throat from behind and watching the blood spill onto the floor. “I don’t have anything for you, a*****e.”

I pulled off the backpack and poured the polish remover/gasoline mixture around his still twitching body. I trailed it to the front door, and then slung the bag onto him. I chucked the lighter to the floor, but the flame has gone out before it hit. “S**t.” I muttered, picking it up and flicking it on. My hands shook. The mixture roared to life, and I bolted out the door before anything else could go wrong.

My shoe was trailing blood. I threw them both off and turned around and running the other direction. I passed the house as the aerosol cans exploded. The heat burned my eyes, and I searched desperately for a quick way away. I hopped a fence into a backyard, crossed over to the next street, and made it to the empty building by the time sirens sounded. I cowered behind a dumpster while the lights flashed past me. I quickly pulled off the extra clothes and gloves, soaked them in bleach, and torched them using leftover mixture. I shook harder from excitement and laughed as quietly as I could manage. I’d killed a drug dealer.

I stopped into a gas station on my way to the bus stop. My cheek was going to bruise. I washed it carefully and then set off for a night of local bands playing covers of their favorite songs.

Reviews

[Brie]

Another good installment! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!
-Brie